City of Basketball Love

Sam Istvan (@sistvan_14)
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Rasheem Dearry has the big, strong body and the quick-footed athleticism of a linebacker. Yet the Cheltenham senior chose to devote himself to basketball. Why, you might ask?

“Scoring. Just scoring,” Dearry said. “That’s what I really like about the sport.”

On Friday night, Cheltenham traveled to Plymouth-Whitemarsh, looking for a road win against their SOL opponent. Lucky for the Panthers, Dearry showed his affinity for scoring.

The big guard tallied 17 points, leading the Cheltenham offensive effort in a comfortable 72-56 road victory, improving them to 7-0 on the young season. 

Dearry scored in a variety of ways. He showed off his 3-point shooting stroke, got to the free throw line (8-9 FTs), flexed his muscle in the post, and even flashed some handles, getting by defenders and to the rim for layups. 

The versatile senior grew up playing football in North Philly before basketball caught his eye.

“My dad, he really introduced me to the sport,” Dearry said. “At first, I was a football player, but then I fell in love with basketball.”

Dearry played middle school basketball at Cedarbrook, within shouting distance of Cheltenham High School. There, he began to develop the mindset that he displayed on Thursday night at PW.

“It's like a Kobe mentality,” described Dearry. “Same thing with Kobe, same thing with me.”

Once he entered high school and the tutelage of Cheltenham head coach Patrick Fleury, though, Dearry began to add more to his game than just his scoring abilities.

“When he came in, he was just strictly just an offensive player,” said Fleury. “He has moments now where he's like a point guard, and we try to ask him to be like Draymond Green.”

Draymond Green with a Kobe mindset is certainly a force that would strike fear in any of the opponents Cheltenham will see this season. Dearry grabbed eight rebounds, dished out two assists, and added three steals against PW, supporting Fleury’s assessment of how Dearry has grown into an all-around guard.

“We're a deep team,” said Fleury. “And his ability to fit in all of the spots makes it a joy for the coaching staff to be able to have a player who has a variety of skill sets”

Fleury, a 2005 graduate of Cheltenham, values the do-it-all ability of his senior captain and believes it suits the community of Cheltenham well.

“It’s just a great combination of everything…” said Fleury, speaking of his school’s community. “Cheltenham has everything in it that you want for your child to grow. And it’s telling in [Dearry’s] game. He's inside, outside, he can shoot, he can be the point guard. It’s just what we try to embody.” 

Dearry is one of a core of Cheltenham seniors who have spent four years at Cheltenham high school and in Fleury’s program. As Fleury works to build his program, he sees Dearry and players like him as important pieces of that puzzle.

“We're just trying to build the consistency of our program,” said Fleury. “And [Dearry]'s a staple of that because he's a kid that’s a four-year kid. And it shows if you stay four years, the development and progression that you’ll have.” 

Cheltenham’s undefeated start has started to turn some heads in the SOL. Fleury attributes their early success to the familiarity that Dearry and the rest of Cheltenham’s core have with each other.

“All this success is because of how hard they play, growing up together and being around each other…” Fleury said. “They play hard and they play, for the most part, without really any personal goals. It’s more for the team.”

Cheltenham travels to Abington for their second big SOL game in 24 hours tomorrow afternoon. They’ll hope to continue building on their early season success and stay undefeated.

The December and January wins do not have Fleury flying too high, though. He recognizes that the Panthers have plenty left to prove and accomplish over the coming months.

“I think we had a good start,” said Fleury, “but everybody knows January doesn't do anything. So we're happy that we're winning, but obviously there's a way larger goal at the end.”

By Quarter

Cheltenham:             23 | 14 | 18 | 17  || 72

Plymouth-Whitemarsh:   8  | 12 | 17 | 19  || 56

Shooting

Cheltenham: 23-48 FG (6-22 3PT), 20-31 FT

Plymouth-Whitemarsh: 21-66 FG (6-26 3PT), 8-12 FT

Scoring

Cheltenham: Dearry 17, Edens 12, Bush 12, Hutson 11, Walker 10, Savage 5, Metcalfe 3, Healy 2, 

Plymouth-Whitemarsh: Bennett 22, Colzie 9, Baker 7, Flowers 6, Z. Hubbard 4, T. Hubbard 4, Willis 4